According to some in the advertising industry they view the advent of digital signage as people did after Gutenberg invented his press, as a true industrial revolution. Digital advertising allows a company’s message to be targeted more efficiently and precisely than ever before, and provides a flexibility that is hard for other mediums to match.
The rapid growth in the use of digital signage is due in large part to a recent fall in the price of the plasma and LCD screens that are needed to act as the heart of a digital signage system.
As long as you make use of a good LCD enclosure, which can protect the screen from both adverse weather conditions and vandalism effectively, a digital signage system can be placed almost anywhere outdoors.
When it comes to installing digital signage often the biggest choice to be addressed is whether to use an LCD or plasma screen. The differences can be examined to make the choice a little easier;
Size: Plasmas can be built to be larger than LCDs, some up to 150”.This of course does make them far heavier, which needs to be taken into account when choosing a mounting location. LCDs usually stop at 52”, but they are being built bigger all the time.
Picture Quality: They both have excellent image quality compared to the old cathode ray TVs, but LCDs tend to have a clearer picture in smaller models, and a higher image resolution. Plasma TVs usually win when it comes to picture contrast however.
Brightness: In a darkened setting, plasma TVs tend to have a better capacity for good contrast and brightness than a LCD. LCDs do reflect less light though, which may be a deciding factor when placing digital signage in a very well lit area.
Useful Life: Both formats usually run 60,000 hours before any dimming becomes a noticeable problem.
Energy consumption: An LCD TV uses less energy than plasma, although newer plasma models do consume considerably less power than their older ancestors. Both LCD and plasmas TVs do use 50% less power than traditional cathode ray televisions.
As it is advisable that any digital signage display be protected by an enclosure, how well LCD stands up outside versus plasma should not be a consideration. Without the protection of such an enclosure, it would be just like placing the TV from your living room outside your house in a rain storm, disastrous.